Michael Swickard's new novel about New Mexico

From KOB-TV.com By: Jill Galus, KOB Eyewitness News 4- n Albuquerque homeowner can't figure out why cars keep crashing through the wall behind her house. It has happened four times, which prompts the question, is there some
sort of safety problem there or is the homeowner just really unlucky?
You don't have to look hard to see exactly where the car came crashing through the cement wall near Juan Tabo and Montgomery. This pile of debris is made up of broken up cinder blocks and chunks of the vehicle.
But believe it or not, homeowner Shirley Reynolds said, this is the
fourth time her wall is going to be replaced, for a similar bizarre
situation. "It looks terrible, ha ha, it's a great big hole in the wall," Reynolds said.
Reynolds is still in disbelief. "They even knocked down that tree, always said we had too many trees," Reynolds said. She feels all too familiar to the pile of rubble.
"One time it was by the bedroom window, then it was a BMW that came
right here, then another time we were out of town," Reynolds said, as
she showed KOB Eyewitness News 4 where the other crashes happened along
the same wall over the past year.
This latest crash marks the fourth time the cement wall has crumbled after a car crashed through it.
"Somebody hit them, knocked them, and spun them around, and that's how they ended up in our yard," Reynolds said. Her property is now infamously known among neighbors.
"They say, 'Oh yeah, I know you're the house that always... Yeah,
that's right, our house is always the one people are always running
into,'" Reynolds said. "I'm just afraid that one of these days somebody
is going to be sitting out there in the backyard on the swing and
somebody is going to get hurt."
The wall faces Juan Tabo. A sidewalk separates the wall from the street.
KOB checked with the city and was told there is nothing that would
indicate the stretch of road there is problematic. The speed limit is 40
mph, which the city said, is reasonable for the area.Read more

Leaders of Jemez Pueblo in northern New Mexico are seeking
the return of all land within the boundaries of the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera
National Preserve, citing the area as a "spiritual sanctuary" and
part of their traditional homeland.

Jemez Pueblo filed a lawsuit in federal
court last summer to establish its aboriginal right to ownership of the
property, and the pueblo has gained the support of tribes throughout New Mexico.

The lawsuit
describes the preserve as the "Jemez Holy Land."

The U.S. attorney's
office is expected to file the government's response in federal court next
month.

Santa Fe Mayor David Coss is
supporting a national campaign aimed at lobbying Congress for federal gun
control reforms.

Coss and Police Chief Raymond Rael held a news conference
Monday to announce their support. Coss says he also plans to travel to Washington, D.C.,
on Wednesday to lobby with other mayors.

More than 800 mayors across the nation
belong to the organization called "Mayors Against Illegal Guns." The
group is pushing for criminal background checks on all gun sales, including
private sales and sales at gun shows.

They're also seeking renewal of a
national ban on the sale of assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines.

New
Mexico's lawmakers are returning to work
and will hear from Republican Gov. Susana Martinez on the opening day of the
60-day session.

The Legislature convenes at noon today.

The governor will
deliver her state of the state address to a joint session of the House and
Senate. Martinez
plans to outline her legislative agenda, which includes a reduction in the
corporate tax rate, early childhood reading initiatives as well as several
proposals that the Democratic-controlled Legislature has rejected in the past.

Martinez is renewing her
effort to stop the state from granting driver's licenses to undocumented
immigrants — a proposal that's stalled in the Legislature since the governor
took office in 2011.